The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 24, 1901, Page 14

THE SUNDAY CALL s St 22 i i~ hetig Tale of . the Retreat the Last of HE following are excerpts from the diary of Senor Si- eon A. Villa, medical offi- y chief of staff o Aguinaldo, covering the entire period from November 13, 1899, hen 1 and subsequen inaldo his forces 1901, when at Palanan. The ¢ 11 their own story —the has been a ble c to show the suffer- | endured by the e of Aguinaldo’s govern- ain fight lement a great meet us s having nly two or we left the the road Ban Ferrando, 1 we reached We had nothing up to our at 9 o'clock that uous and painful fallowing after a { fouspey. Death of General Pilar, At 5 o'clock in the after- honorable President received a from two officers coming Tila, to the effect that the ns had taken all our trenches on la; that Pilar had been v being shot through the head; other soldiers had also been killed the officers, were sure that the ans must be in Angaqul this v December Ehoon the verh from M eport unt Generai they me date.—At every step we found the : getting higher and the cold nilling. It was 3 o’clock in A strong wind was becoming more and the blowing. more in- nse, was penetrating almost to Our skins had become our dead to te and our lips drawn purple from c December , and without even breakfasting, we resumed the march. The Terror of the Kanao. cember 7.—We reached the Banane ept. We have seen the head dance. tes celeb: “kaneo,” It is a feast which the e in each ranch or set- number of them when one or 2 he head of an enemy by means of r by hery. The ceremony of cu 2 the head from the ewise the hands and feet, d is carried Lo the house of the the settlement, and then it is at- e twelve feet in house. Once vities the amputated 138 and feet of the r scrubbing their faces. The cer- lasts six days, and so it happens hands, feet 2nd head are burled, After sufficient time has elapsed to allow e soft and fleshy parts to rot away they > up the skull and the skeletons of the ds and feet, using them as valuable waments for the house. day.—In this ranch there is an 2 sce of “camotes.” or native pota- toes. But there is a great scarcity of e, hence our meals are reduced to two . viz., the first at 9 a. m., consisting camotes,” and the second at 8 p. m, consisting of water-cooked rice and other foods. We only allow half a “chupa” or ebout a fourth of a pint of rice for a ra- . the result being that we never get enough to eat; and when we cannot get »0ds on account of thelr scarcity Iy the Geficiency with “talbos,” or s all dance ar They use the Same tio shoots of the “camote,” and with unhulled rice cooked in water and salt. The second meal sometimes cor ts of ‘‘camotes’ when there is no rice, so that we have nothing but “‘camotes” during the entire day. December 16.—The honorable President explained to a meeting called in a thicket not far from our camp a very critical state of things, viz., that the Americans bhad taken Bayambang, hence we could not go further forward; that there were Americans behind us; that they were pur- suing us, and bad dircady arrived at the Sagada settlement; that our situation here in Banane is dangerous, because not only are our enemies the Americans, in front of us und behind us, but the very Igorrotes who surround us are also our enemies, only waiting for the opportu- nity to cut off our heads. Separating From the Women. Same date—(In the same meeting) Senor Villa was of the opinlon that we should separate from the women, wno constitute such a great impediment or ob- stacle to any plan that we might form, He would send these women to Manlla, accompanied by two trustworthy officers. (After discussion the honorable President 80 ordered.) December 21.—The sun is beclouded: it is a sad day for us. The fresh breeze gen- tly moves the trees. The separation from the women, from these beings who give us life and courage, sorely afflicts us; night s coming wuwpon us; oyr vision grows dim; our legs and knees are already weak and tremulous, our breath- ing laborious, and the thirst is intense. The clinging mud increases our troubles.™ The night now is very dark. The leafy mountain trees shut out the star- light of the heavens. We no longer see one another. Along that narrow path—16 inches wide—which we travel, lle the precipices of death, and looking down into their depths suffices to make one have a feeling of faintness and swims g in the head, or to imagine himself on the edge of death. Each one of us uses as a guide the limb of a tree, probing into the dark- ness with the point of it for the location of an abyss. * * * Itis9 o'clock at night. We are, perhaps, at an elevation of some 2300 metres. Ascents are still awaiting us; hunger! thirst!—We are sick and faint. Corporal fatigue prostrates us; yet we continue our journey, almost crawling. * * * We reach the sum- mit at 10 o’clock at night. We are ex- hausted; we lie down on the ground with- out a ‘‘petate” (native covering of woven bamboo). The intense cold makes our teeth chatter. Soon a profound slumber and great exhaustion has robbed us of in- telligence. *- * * At 2 o'clock in the morning the honorable President awoke and ordered that we should continue the march. December 22.—It was 7a. m. when we ar- rived in Ambayuan. Here we found the women, worn out with the painful four- ney they had suffered; they were seated on the ground. In their faces are observed indications of the ravages of hunger; but they are always smiling, saying they would prefer suffering in these mountains to being under the dominion of the Amer- icans, and that such sacrifices are the duties of every patriot who loves his country. December 24.—The women marched off to Talubin to present themselves to the enemy. What a mournful parting! Resolve to Face Death. December 26.—At 8 o'clock the honor- able President ordered the companies formed, and he explained to all that the only remedy left was for all to resulte and face death; that on that morning we ‘would have to continue the journey to the front; that it was very probable that we would encounter the Americans; that we should' resist them even though they might kill us all; that we should endeavor to break their columns so as to pass out toward the mountains in the north. Af- terward he sald: “Do you swear not to abandon me?”’ The soldiers cried out that they preferred death rather than to aban- don him into the hands of the enemy. December 27.—It seems that our strength 1s becoming exhausted. The day is fading away; coplous perspiration covers us from head to foot; we have not yet eaten any- thing; night falls upon us and we find our- selves in the midst of several very high mountains, unable to see anything on ac- count of theintensedarkness. Suddenly the soldiers in advance announce that it is im- possible to continue marching, as the trail is too narrow and they are in danger of falling into the precipices. A rest was ordered. All the soldiers at once sought water for drinking purposes and to cook their rice, but unfortunately there waa none to be found. Thus it happened that, in spite of our having eaten nothing all day and of not being able to eat on this night we had to make the best of our for- tune, or misfortune. We tightened our belts, and, half-dead, we went to bed on the ground among the rocks and trees, Wwhich for the time were our bedding. December 28.—We are up at 5 a. m. At 6 o'clock the honorable President ordered us on the march. So we began the jour- ney, though we slept in the water last night, had nothing to eat all day yester- day and without even having any break- fast now. Same date.—One of the hogorable Presi- dent’s horses fell into a precipice and died. Finding no food in these regions to appease our hunger, we lald hands on the horse and utilized him for our luncheon. Afterward we continued the journey un- tll suddenly attacked by the Igorrotes. The lances which they were throwing at us came from many points, December 20.—The Igorrotes again a tacked us. * * We came to a river on the side of a high mountain, and, while we were passing down the mountain to- ward the sald river, suddenly a rain of rocks fell upon us, lasting a considerabls time. Fortunately for us we had no casu- alties. A Period of Happiness. January 5, 1900.—Hours seemed like years to us, as we longed for daylight to come at once so that we might continue the march and reach the first town in Isa- bella inhabited not by Igorrotes but by Christlans. Now indeed for us have fin- ished the lofty and extensive mountains— finished, after three months of living in the depths of the woods and using the scarce ‘‘camotes’ as our food. Now our lives are indeed saved from those Igo- rotes, who are always armed with spears and arrows and ready, at the least care- lessness, to rob us of our lives. Hunger, thirst, heat, cold, laborious breathing, nausea and swimming of the head, ex- haustion, the dark nights, and the trem- bling of our legs and knees—all of this is past, and we are through with it for good. . January 7.—At 8 o’'clock in the morning we set out on the march, everybody ju- bilant. The soldiers sang to their lght footsteps. We ran across many deer and wild caribous in the mountains. The hon- orable President shot two of the former. January 20.—Captain Villareal and his forces remained In Carlg waliting for the Americans, the forces being well ar- ranged. The people of the town no:m-r: them that two Americans had u-rlvex: accompanied by a Chinaman and had gone to the house of the telegraph oper- Our forces at once went to the telegraph office. The Americans at once, on seelng our soldiers, said: “Cosa, ti: insurrecto?” (Jargonm for “Who are you an insurgent?’) One of our soldlers re- plled, “Yes, good insurgent: bring your gun.” The American answered: ‘“‘Ameri- ca mucho bueno,” and immediately ran. Our soldiers pursued them and fired some shots, and in a few moments the soldlers ator. were dead. January 21.—At 8 o'clock this morning the Chinese companion of the two Ameri- can soldlers was executed. A Thief in Camp. January 3L.—When the forces were in- spected it was seen that the orderlies of both Villa and Barcelona had made their escape, that of the first having stolen $0 and the honorable President's blan- s Treachery of Tirona. February 5.—At 12 o’clock thers ar- rived in our camp Manuel Guzman, ex- Meutenant of Tirona's unfortunate bat- talion. This officer, after telling us all that occurred in the surrender of Caya- gan Valley—an act due to the infamy. cowardice and shamelessness of General Tiréna—also told us that the sald gen- eral is still with the American captain to whom he surrendered. It has been- ob- served by everybody that the sald gen- eral, In order to ingratiate himself with his master, the Ameri¢an captain, is act- ing as his personal servant—now trying to secure for him the most exquisite meals possible, and now washing the dishes and quarreling with the cook and private ser- in; 1 then, again, n's table. And when for the captain to write, into the office ahead vants of the cleaning the the hour arrive: cap General Tirona goes of him and gets the pen and inkstand in his hands, ready to offer to his master, the captain, the pen when he wishes to write. Also, that this general was occu- pying himself every morning In cleaning the captain's shoes—in one word, he was promoted to be majordomo. Horse Races and Executions. February 6.—At 4 o’clock in the after- noon, at the instance of Senor Villa. there ‘was a race between his horse and that of the “Count of Camote.” The race was won by Senor Villa’s horse, a present to him from the honorable President. February 7.—At 4:30 o'clock the troops were formed to take part in the execu- tion of Domingo Calinga, the deserter, but the honorable President on seeing that the criminal had already been car- ried out to be executed, at once wrote an order or pardon and immediately dis- patched it by courier to save the erim- inal's life. The Judge Advocate, after perusing the pardon, read it aloud in tha presence of all; and immediately every- body erled out: “Hurrah for the honor- able President! Hurrah for Indepenc encel™ February 10.—About 1 o’clock this after- noon we received, from a source some- what trustworthy, the grateful news that our independence has been recognized by five nations, though we do not know who these flve nations are. But we made this news pass from one ear to another. In spite of the fact that it is much desired by aill, we are quite bored with contin- ually hearing this news. Aguinaldo Warned. Same date.—At 9 o’clock the homorable President received a letter from a patriot in Tlagan informing us that in the provin- clal capital the hostile forces were prepar- ing for an involving forward movement toward our camp so as to catch (so they say) the honorable President. 4 February 26.—While we were ascending the first mountain encountered in our march this morning, the honorable Pres! dent noticed that all our faces were pals and covered with abundant perspiratio our respiration laborious, that thers wers complaints of thirst, obscurity of vision and nausea, and in a loud voice he said to all: ‘“What a costly thing is Indepen- dence! How we are suffering!”” On hear- ing this everybody cried out in the Interior of the mountains: “Hurrah for indepen- dence!" March 4—While crossing the rtver the velocity of 1t8 current was so great that we had to grasp one another in order to keep from being swept away: and whils the cold was killing us we sought to dis- tract attention from our sufferings by sa ing: “What troublesome jokes are t of Otis!” Aguinaldo Studies English. March 12.—The honorable President en- tertains himself with the two companions of his house, Villa and Barcelona, by studying English, as we have nothing else to do. March 16.—By order of the honorable President all the sergeants and corporals have been pfacticing with the hellograph since 9 o'clock this morning. March 24.—On account of to-day being the birthday of the invincible chieftain and liberator of the Philippines, all the officers and soldiers who are accompany- ing him on these mountain journeys have been coming to congratulate him since yesterday evening at §:30 o'clock, and twenty-flve soldiers have organized a band of music, using as Instruments the bam- boos, musicong, bumbong. Their congrat- ulations have been solemn and imposing, because the honorable President, after re- celving them affectionately, offered sweet- meats, cigars and wines to all. The hon- orable President declared his profound gratitude to all and at the same time